I would say don't get a pack. Once you buy a pack you notice your gameplay improves and you will need a new one. I find it really hard to choose one pack for you because they all have something that makes the sims worthwhile te play. Eco Lifestyle really impressed me but packs like seasons and get together bring also much more life to you game. I'm almost certain that Eco Lifestyle would not be that fun if those packs were not installed. So I don't dare to pick one. Sorry
I also voted Get Together as I feel like it's the only way to get a group of sims to do what you want them to do! I think it fits pretty much every playstyle since you can create such versatile clubs. They always spice up my game a bit. I tend to put all my sims in clubs.
AND when playing legacy families it's nice to make a family club to get the whole family together and socialize, even those from different households. You can even set "using computer" as a forbidden activity!
Although, to add, I had a really hard time picking one because all my packs work together so well. I only own GT, City Living, Seasons and Get To Work and I love them all. They all add something to your gameplay and I combine them all. But like @Antwerpo said: once you get a pack you'll get used to it and then you'll need more. It's so true!
I like Get Famous. The world is very small unfortunately but the gameplay makes it worth it, in my opinion. The pack adds two systems: Fame and Reputation. The Fame system comes with all it's perks and quirks and your sims can be famous for almost everything in the game (including DLC content). The Reputation system is a little bit more simplified but it will still give your sims some consequences (it will be harder to make friends with a negative reputation) and opportunities (you'll get some career offers depending on your reputation level, for example).
A very close tie between get together and seasons.
Get together comes with the very useful club feature. It is great for creating groups of sims to hang out together. I like to set up clubs with relatives so I can easily have family gatherings. The world that comes with the pack looks great and offers a good variety between neighbourhoods. Seasons is great for immersion because the weather makes it feel more alive. The calendar and holidays offer things to do. I love trying to complete the traditions with every Sim in the household. Both the clubs and holidays are highly customisable to the players preference and some of the best features in the sims 4.
Another advice would be to pay attention to game packs. Some of the game packs are more essential to my game than the rest of the EPs.
Realm of magic and vampires offer supernatural gameplay. I know this is not for everyone, but I greatly enjoy magic in my game.
Strangerville : I liked playing through the story, but I think it is best to play at a slow pace and enjoy your sims every day lives at the same time. The world, BB and CAS of this pack is great, I use it all the time
Jungle adventure : sending my sims on vacation to a tropical jungle adds a nice change from their day to day lives. You can edit the community lots in selvadorada so you can choose if you want to explore the jungle with them or just relax on a community lot you created.
I'd especially like any EP that makes changes to the way a sim behaves or influences others, and adds consequences (like parenthood does with the manners system).
If this is what you are looking, then you might like eco lifestyle as well. It's not my personal favourites but NAPs can alter the everyday behaviour of your sims a lot. Striving for a particular eco footprint can be quite a challenge and requires editing every lot. Just remember to read up on nap before you enable them because they can have unexpected or unwanted results.
The weather system in Seasons allows me to get immersed in the game world before starting out with a narrative.
It gets me in the mood. Before creating a new save file I will always decide in what season and what town or world this story takes place. It also gives me the opportunity to take a break from the story when me and my sims are unsure about what comes next. I just....listen to the rain and thunderstorms...and let the weather decide.
You can manipulate the weather to an extend by using the weather machine, but make sure that the sim has all their needs up and is in a reasonably comfortable mood, otherwise you’ll get the opposite of what you ask for. A machine upgrade provides a higher chance of an accurate outcome.
I own all Expansion Packs and each one offers something I truly enjoy in my game. But at this point I wouldn’t really want to play the game without the weather system of Seasons.
Buy game packs rather than expansions, they're way better.
Expansions imo are overpriced, heavily lacking in content and have boring themes. None of them are worth full price or even half price really, game packs are way more reasonably priced (especially on 50% sales). Vampires, Jungle Adventure, Dine Out and ROM gave me way more fun than all the expansions combined. Also Parenthood for those who like family play.
I love TS4, but I must agree to your list of dislikes. That's my list of dislikes too and what I miss having in the game. For me what keeps the game (even just the base game) interesting is rotatinonal play and coming up with my own storylines for sims. I like to create families that are different and playing them also feels different. That way when I get bored with one family I can play with another instead. Eventually I always feel like going back to them. I record some of the stories in my blog and that gives some extra meaning to me.
I don't think there's a single expansion that makes TS4 better if you don't really like it. Possibly not even multiple expansions do that. Still I would give my recommendation to Get Famous. My favourite expansions are actually Seasons and Get Together, but Get famous has climbed up on place three without me liking the overall theme! In my rotation I've found myself hugely enjoying the fame gameplay and creating different kind of celebrity stories. I also think the quirk system is fun and it comes with new job pop ups where your sim can even lose their job (it's still up to you to pick that option). Get Famous can keep me occupied like no other EP and it provides a reasonable amount of challenge.
I will always choose seasons if its just one expansion pack because I literally could not make myself play sims minus seasons at all
like i tried and it was very depressing first few years with no vampires and seasons and base game being the way it was and the barbie world simulator was just killing me inside
I am surprised Seasons has been mentioned so much. For you, what about seasons added the most to your game?
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
Get Together I like for the large world of Windenburg as well as the club system and a little more spice to night life. The club system is one of those features that can be overlooked and underestimated but you can actually set up some group behaviors with it and choose hangout locations so if you like to switch households, you'll actually see those Sims show up in the places you set, doing the club activities you chose (as long as the right requirements are met at the locale). Lots of creative things can be done with clubs and using townies or extra Sims to bring areas more to life. You can even set up rival clubs who like to fight and have them hang out at the same place for some drama, lol. They can also be used for family gatherings or senior clubs or age groups. It's pretty versatile.
I do like the way the club systems sound. Thanks for sharing!
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
I would say don't get a pack. Once you buy a pack you notice your gameplay improves and you will need a new one. I find it really hard to choose one pack for you because they all have something that makes the sims worthwhile te play. Eco Lifestyle really impressed me but packs like seasons and get together bring also much more life to you game. I'm almost certain that Eco Lifestyle would not be that fun if those packs were not installed. So I don't dare to pick one. Sorry
Interesting. Thanks for sharing!!
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
I'd especially like any EP that makes changes to the way a sim behaves or influences others, and adds consequences (like parenthood does with the manners system).
If this is what you are looking, then you might like eco lifestyle as well. It's not my personal favourites but NAPs can alter the everyday behaviour of your sims a lot. Striving for a particular eco footprint can be quite a challenge and requires editing every lot. Just remember to read up on nap before you enable them because they can have unexpected or unwanted results.
Thanks! Ive heard about N.A.Ps. I really wish you could create your own NAPs. Is that possible in game or with mods? Or can the club feature be extended to every sim so it works like a NAP?
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
I like Get Famous. The world is very small unfortunately but the gameplay makes it worth it, in my opinion. The pack adds two systems: Fame and Reputation. The Fame system comes with all it's perks and quirks and your sims can be famous for almost everything in the game (including DLC content). The Reputation system is a little bit more simplified but it will still give your sims some consequences (it will be harder to make friends with a negative reputation) and opportunities (you'll get some career offers depending on your reputation level, for example).
Sounds nice, thanks!
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
Buy game packs rather than expansions, they're way better.
Expansions imo are overpriced, heavily lacking in content and have boring themes. None of them are worth full price or even half price really, game packs are way more reasonably priced (especially on 50% sales). Vampires, Jungle Adventure, Dine Out and ROM gave me way more fun than all the expansions combined. Also Parenthood for those who like family play.
I do like the game pack theme. I have parentood, dine out, and outdoor retreat. I dont play occults. Im thinking an EP also because id like a new world or new major system. Ive still got the same 3 lol. Any other gp youd recommend?
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
If you don't have Seasons, get Seasons. Best EP for TS4 no contest. It does not have a world but it ads weather, seasons and holidays to all worlds, plus a lot of harvestables, the flower arranging skill, gardening career, roller skating and a lot of family gameplay comes with it.
If you don't have Seasons, get Seasons. Best EP for TS4 no contest. It does not have a world but it ads weather, seasons and holidays to all worlds, plus a lot of harvestables, the flower arranging skill, gardening career, roller skating and a lot of family gameplay comes with it.
I do love gardening in TS4! It is so relaxing and fun. That and the handiness skill (i love running around and upgrading everything).
Ive heard seasons drastically changed the gardening system. What changed for the worse or for the better?
Also is there any EP that made changes to the hardiness skill?
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
Eco Lifestyle is the one that gives me better control in the way i'm playing now. But also Get Together. And Seasons is essencial because it gives personality to each world.
I play some kind of colonizing game, something like a mix of sims amd simcity.
I start in a completelly empty save, no builds and no premades. I dowload a home for my legacy and put it in a world, with nothing else around.
Then, depending on the needs of my sims, i add a community lot. Let's say my sim wants to get married. I set a church or a wedding venue in the neighbourhood. When i need a different lot i add it and for each new community lot i add one house. I then move my sim's closest friends to those houses, making them also my sim's neighbours.
When i set a new community lot i set a club there. For example if i add a bar i'll make a club of people that gets together there and dances, have drinks, etc. This way when i visit there's always people having fun there. There's the regular clients (club members) and others that show up.
I also use Get Together to make unconventional careers move immersive. For example i have now a carpenter sim. I have set an old woodworking factory in his neighbourhood and a club he belongs to, whose members use the woodworking table and other stuff. So instead of just making my sim use the table alone at home it feels like he works in a factory.
The community lots i add will help me set the NAPs i want in my neighbourhood. So in my current sim's neighbourhood i have voted for the nap (i can't remember the name) that gives benefits for those who work in his profession.
With all of this, neighbourhoods get more authentic. Sometimes i also cheat neighbourhoods to industrial or green state, if it fits the neighbourhood style.
As my legacy goes on, generation after generation, the worlds get more and more occupied. It's cool to watch different saves generate communities with different personalities.
So, Eco Lifestyle, Get Together and Seasons are essential for me.
If you don't have Seasons, get Seasons. Best EP for TS4 no contest. It does not have a world but it ads weather, seasons and holidays to all worlds, plus a lot of harvestables, the flower arranging skill, gardening career, roller skating and a lot of family gameplay comes with it.
I do love gardening in TS4! It is so relaxing and fun. That and the handiness skill (i love running around and upgrading everything).
Ive heard seasons drastically changed the gardening system. What changed for the worse or for the better?
Also is there any EP that made changes to the hardiness skill?
I believe they patched most of the gardening changes so if you played with gardening after Seasons you got most of it. I'm playing with it right now and I love it. There isn't really anything I don't like about it, with the EP basically most plants in the game gain seasonality with Seasons, and you get sprinklers and beehives. Bees help plants grow faster and if you put them under cover (like in a greenhouse) they'll bloom in all Seasons.
No on the handiness skill thing. It's the same as it ever was...
Like so many others, I'm always torn between Seasons and Get Together, but if have to chose only one, it will always be Seasons. I just can't imagine playing The Sims without weather and seasonal effects. The fact that each world have a different climate is also really nice. Like it rarely snows in Oasis Spring for example. I also really like the calendar and the ability to schedule things like birthday parties ahead of time. And being able to make our own holidays is really fun for me.
Having said that, I absolutely live the clubs system and the Winderburgh world in Get Together. I have over a 100 different clubs in my game. They make the community lots so much more fun. I usually create rival clubs that gather at the same community lot to create drama :-D. I have ghost club that meets in a park that I use as my community cemetery to wreck havoc on a widows club that meets there to mourn their dearly departed spouses. I have various singles clubs for each world that meet at a local bar or nightclub and try to seduce other Sims. The possibilities are endless!
I'd especially like any EP that makes changes to the way a sim behaves or influences others, and adds consequences (like parenthood does with the manners system).
If this is what you are looking, then you might like eco lifestyle as well. It's not my personal favourites but NAPs can alter the everyday behaviour of your sims a lot. Striving for a particular eco footprint can be quite a challenge and requires editing every lot. Just remember to read up on nap before you enable them because they can have unexpected or unwanted results.
Thanks! Ive heard about N.A.Ps. I really wish you could create your own NAPs. Is that possible in game or with mods? Or can the club feature be extended to every sim so it works like a NAP?
Unfortunately you can't create your own NAPs. I haven't heard of any mods adding new NAPs, but I never tried to find such a mod.
The clubs allow 6 members when you start them and can be expanded to 8 members in total with perk points. I have seen mods to allow more members. But even then they won't affect every Sim, only club members, and only during club gatherings.
For me, it’s Get Together. I’ll admit that I really didn’t understand the fuss until I started using the clubs system to make the game so much more alive and functional. Groups for families, teenagers that go to school together, hobbies—everything I can think of. The system is the breath of life for the game, and when they start doing whatever activities are chosen for the group—the entire world feels more alive.
So right now i only have Get to work, Uni, and Seasons as Eps. Seasons i feel adds the most to the base game. Seasons adds seasons to every neighborhood and the seasons change depending on the neighborhood that you are in. It also adds holidays like christmas, easter, Harvestfest (thanksgiving probably!), plus you can create your own!
I didn't vote because I don't know which pack this came with, but the pack I cannot live without is the one that brought the club system. I use the club system for just about everything in the game. Every single family has their own club and they can be a happy family that does activities together or individualistic where they spend their time doing individual tasks. They can even be a bad family that is mean to each other or picks on certain sims. Then I have clubs for seeing around town that go to specific venues so I always see certain sims hanging out at places. I make clubs so my kids and older nerds hang out at the comic shop/internet cafe, I have a group of bros that hangs out at the dive bar causing mischief and they pick on the nerds. I have teens hanging out at parks picking on kids. Kids hanging out at the library doing homework or the park playing. I have a group of women that hang out at the coffee shop. A group of elders who play games at the park. Anyway, without this pack, my game would be lacking and boring. I love all the other packs, but without this one, there is no way the game would be fun. This pack actually allows me to give my sims personality by having they do certain interactions autonomously and when I'm not actually playing them (since I play on rotation). And seeing them around town actually doing things that I think they would actually be doing when I'm playing makes me love them even more. In my game, I don't just see sims standing around talking anymore like they used to. The clubs make everything more lively and it's wonderful!
Plus, with a mod you can add interactions from other packs for the clubs. It's so worth it.
I didn't vote because I don't know which pack this came with, but the pack I cannot live without is the one that brought the club system. I use the club system for just about everything in the game. Every single family has their own club and they can be a happy family that does activities together or individualistic where they spend their time doing individual tasks. They can even be a bad family that is mean to each other or picks on certain sims. Then I have clubs for seeing around town that go to specific venues so I always see certain sims hanging out at places. I make clubs so my kids and older nerds hang out at the comic shop/internet cafe, I have a group of bros that hangs out at the dive bar causing mischief and they pick on the nerds. I have teens hanging out at parks picking on kids. Kids hanging out at the library doing homework or the park playing. I have a group of women that hang out at the coffee shop. A group of elders who play games at the park. Anyway, without this pack, my game would be lacking and boring. I love all the other packs, but without this one, there is no way the game would be fun. This pack actually allows me to give my sims personality by having they do certain interactions autonomously and when I'm not actually playing them (since I play on rotation). And seeing them around town actually doing things that I think they would actually be doing when I'm playing makes me love them even more. In my game, I don't just see sims standing around talking anymore like they used to. The clubs make everything more lively and it's wonderful!
Plus, with a mod you can add interactions from other packs for the clubs. It's so worth it.
Probably Seasons. Giving my game a sense of time passing (especially since I play with aging off) really was a game changer for me. Dogs and Cats is my next choice, just for the mere fact that my families feel more complete with pets
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AND when playing legacy families it's nice to make a family club to get the whole family together and socialize, even those from different households. You can even set "using computer" as a forbidden activity!
Although, to add, I had a really hard time picking one because all my packs work together so well. I only own GT, City Living, Seasons and Get To Work and I love them all. They all add something to your gameplay and I combine them all. But like @Antwerpo said: once you get a pack you'll get used to it and then you'll need more. It's so true!
Get together comes with the very useful club feature. It is great for creating groups of sims to hang out together. I like to set up clubs with relatives so I can easily have family gatherings. The world that comes with the pack looks great and offers a good variety between neighbourhoods. Seasons is great for immersion because the weather makes it feel more alive. The calendar and holidays offer things to do. I love trying to complete the traditions with every Sim in the household. Both the clubs and holidays are highly customisable to the players preference and some of the best features in the sims 4.
Another advice would be to pay attention to game packs. Some of the game packs are more essential to my game than the rest of the EPs.
Realm of magic and vampires offer supernatural gameplay. I know this is not for everyone, but I greatly enjoy magic in my game.
Strangerville : I liked playing through the story, but I think it is best to play at a slow pace and enjoy your sims every day lives at the same time. The world, BB and CAS of this pack is great, I use it all the time
Jungle adventure : sending my sims on vacation to a tropical jungle adds a nice change from their day to day lives. You can edit the community lots in selvadorada so you can choose if you want to explore the jungle with them or just relax on a community lot you created.
If this is what you are looking, then you might like eco lifestyle as well. It's not my personal favourites but NAPs can alter the everyday behaviour of your sims a lot. Striving for a particular eco footprint can be quite a challenge and requires editing every lot. Just remember to read up on nap before you enable them because they can have unexpected or unwanted results.
It gets me in the mood. Before creating a new save file I will always decide in what season and what town or world this story takes place. It also gives me the opportunity to take a break from the story when me and my sims are unsure about what comes next. I just....listen to the rain and thunderstorms...and let the weather decide.
You can manipulate the weather to an extend by using the weather machine, but make sure that the sim has all their needs up and is in a reasonably comfortable mood, otherwise you’ll get the opposite of what you ask for. A machine upgrade provides a higher chance of an accurate outcome.
I own all Expansion Packs and each one offers something I truly enjoy in my game. But at this point I wouldn’t really want to play the game without the weather system of Seasons.
Expansions imo are overpriced, heavily lacking in content and have boring themes. None of them are worth full price or even half price really, game packs are way more reasonably priced (especially on 50% sales). Vampires, Jungle Adventure, Dine Out and ROM gave me way more fun than all the expansions combined. Also Parenthood for those who like family play.
I don't think there's a single expansion that makes TS4 better if you don't really like it. Possibly not even multiple expansions do that. Still I would give my recommendation to Get Famous. My favourite expansions are actually Seasons and Get Together, but Get famous has climbed up on place three without me liking the overall theme! In my rotation I've found myself hugely enjoying the fame gameplay and creating different kind of celebrity stories. I also think the quirk system is fun and it comes with new job pop ups where your sim can even lose their job (it's still up to you to pick that option). Get Famous can keep me occupied like no other EP and it provides a reasonable amount of challenge.
Updated with Werewolf Diaries (1)
I am surprised Seasons has been mentioned so much. For you, what about seasons added the most to your game?
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
I do like the way the club systems sound. Thanks for sharing!
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing!!
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
Thanks! Ive heard about N.A.Ps. I really wish you could create your own NAPs. Is that possible in game or with mods? Or can the club feature be extended to every sim so it works like a NAP?
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
Sounds nice, thanks!
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
I do like the game pack theme. I have parentood, dine out, and outdoor retreat. I dont play occults. Im thinking an EP also because id like a new world or new major system. Ive still got the same 3 lol. Any other gp youd recommend?
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
I do love gardening in TS4! It is so relaxing and fun. That and the handiness skill (i love running around and upgrading everything).
Ive heard seasons drastically changed the gardening system. What changed for the worse or for the better?
Also is there any EP that made changes to the hardiness skill?
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
I play some kind of colonizing game, something like a mix of sims amd simcity.
I start in a completelly empty save, no builds and no premades. I dowload a home for my legacy and put it in a world, with nothing else around.
Then, depending on the needs of my sims, i add a community lot. Let's say my sim wants to get married. I set a church or a wedding venue in the neighbourhood. When i need a different lot i add it and for each new community lot i add one house. I then move my sim's closest friends to those houses, making them also my sim's neighbours.
When i set a new community lot i set a club there. For example if i add a bar i'll make a club of people that gets together there and dances, have drinks, etc. This way when i visit there's always people having fun there. There's the regular clients (club members) and others that show up.
I also use Get Together to make unconventional careers move immersive. For example i have now a carpenter sim. I have set an old woodworking factory in his neighbourhood and a club he belongs to, whose members use the woodworking table and other stuff. So instead of just making my sim use the table alone at home it feels like he works in a factory.
The community lots i add will help me set the NAPs i want in my neighbourhood. So in my current sim's neighbourhood i have voted for the nap (i can't remember the name) that gives benefits for those who work in his profession.
With all of this, neighbourhoods get more authentic. Sometimes i also cheat neighbourhoods to industrial or green state, if it fits the neighbourhood style.
As my legacy goes on, generation after generation, the worlds get more and more occupied. It's cool to watch different saves generate communities with different personalities.
So, Eco Lifestyle, Get Together and Seasons are essential for me.
I believe they patched most of the gardening changes so if you played with gardening after Seasons you got most of it. I'm playing with it right now and I love it. There isn't really anything I don't like about it, with the EP basically most plants in the game gain seasonality with Seasons, and you get sprinklers and beehives. Bees help plants grow faster and if you put them under cover (like in a greenhouse) they'll bloom in all Seasons.
No on the handiness skill thing. It's the same as it ever was...
Having said that, I absolutely live the clubs system and the Winderburgh world in Get Together. I have over a 100 different clubs in my game. They make the community lots so much more fun. I usually create rival clubs that gather at the same community lot to create drama :-D. I have ghost club that meets in a park that I use as my community cemetery to wreck havoc on a widows club that meets there to mourn their dearly departed spouses. I have various singles clubs for each world that meet at a local bar or nightclub and try to seduce other Sims. The possibilities are endless!
Unfortunately you can't create your own NAPs. I haven't heard of any mods adding new NAPs, but I never tried to find such a mod.
The clubs allow 6 members when you start them and can be expanded to 8 members in total with perk points. I have seen mods to allow more members. But even then they won't affect every Sim, only club members, and only during club gatherings.
Sims 2 (All EPs/SPs)
Sims 3 Showtime
Sims 3 Generations
My Sims 3 profile page: https://mypage.thesims3.com/mypage/Sunflowergal227
Plus, with a mod you can add interactions from other packs for the clubs. It's so worth it.
Get Together.